Pope meets Russia's Patriarch Kirill, but who is he?

Patriarch Kirill, who heads the Russian Orthodox Church, is in Cuba for an historic meeting with Pope Francis.

It is the first papal meeting with a Russian church leader since a schism in 1054 split Christianity into eastern and western branches.

It is also a rare occasion for the patriarch to be in the international spotlight.

BBC Monitoring looks at Patriarch Kirill's background and his close ties to President Vladimir Putin.

Produced by Yaroslava Kiryukhina and Alexi Peristianis

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

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